in Polk County

Rural Sites

Clarks Site [25-PK-01] Listed 1973/08/14

The Grand band of the Pawnee established this village, near
Osceola, some time after 1823 and remained there until about
1845. There is evidence that other bands lived at Clarks during
the 1840s. The village was besieged and burned by the Delaware
Indians in 1832. However, many of the Pawnee may have been absent
on a summer bison hunting expedition when the attack occurred,
and the village was rebuilt following their return.

The Charles H. Morrill Homestead is located on a picturesque
site near the Big Blue River. The original house, a one-story
frame dwelling, was built in 1872 and exhibits subtle Italianate
detailing in its design. The one-and-one-half-story log house,
finished in 1901, was built by Ludwig Rudeen. In 1879 Morrill
became Governor Albinus Nance's private secretary, and in 1904
he was elected Republican national committeeman. He was elected
regent of the University of Nebraska in 1889, serving as president
of the Board of Regents from 1892 to 1902. In the 1890s he and
Dr. E. H. Barbour, professor of geology, initiated yearly geological
and paleontological expeditions into all parts of the state.
These expeditions gathered the initial collections of the University
of Nebraska Museum. Later in life Morrill liberally financed
expeditions and maintenance of the university's collections.
When the university museum building was erected in 1927, it was
named Morrill Hall. A county in western Nebraska, organized in
1908, and a community northwest of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, also
bear Morrill's name.

Strickland Archeological Site [25-PK-05]
Listed 1996/07/03

The Strickland site is significant in prehistory on the basis
of the presence of one or more Lower Loup phase cultural components,
and a reported historic Pawnee presence. The site is located
in an area with a high potential for increasing the understanding
of hunting and lithic acquisition strategies of Lower Loup phase
groups. The site is also located within the buffalo hunting range
of the historic Skiri Band of the Pawnee.

John H. Mickey, a businessman and politician, was an influential
and respected citizen of Osceola and president of the State Bank
of Osceola. He was elected Nebraska governor on the Republican
ticket in 1902, serving two terms. The house was built by Mickey
about 1883-84.

Polk County was organized in 1870 during a period of pronounced
settlement in Nebraska. County officials built a courthouse in
Osceola in 1871-72. However, fire destroyed this wood-frame building
in 1881, and the county replaced it with a more substantial brick
courthouse the following year. By 1916 population and prosperity
in the county were sufficient to foster interest in a more elaborate
and up-to-date courthouse. Because of delays, construction on
the new facility did not begin until 1921. The following year
the new Beaux Arts-style courthouse was dedicated.

Located in Stromsburg, the dwelling was built for Swedish
immigrant Victor E. Wilson, who was elected to the state legislature
in 1909. During the teens Wilson served as state banking examiner
and was also elected state railway commissioner. The frame house,
constructed in 1906-7, is completely sheathed with wooden shingles
and exhibits elements of the Shingle style. The parlor, which
boasted a massive chimney with flanking bookcases and half-timbered
ceiling and walls, housed Wilson's library table, which converted
into a billiard table. The parlor was remodeled in later years.